At the close of October, 36 homicides were reported, a number that’s down eight since the same month last year.

Shootings also dropped from 231 in October 2011, to 208 this year.

“While we are not satisfied and will not rest until every neighborhood in the city experiences the same safety and quality of life as the majority of our neighborhoods, we are making progress,” noted police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

“We continue to make progress in our efforts to reduce violence across the city. Overall crime is down 9 percent and the impact of our Gang Violence Reduction Strategy is evident in the results we’ve obtained since April.”

In spite of October’s drop, over the last 10 months the number of homicides in Chicago swelled well above 400, and continues to inch closer to hitting 500 homicides, for the first time since 2008.